1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to marine vessels and watercraft and more particularly to a convertible lounger seat for marine vessels and watercraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Marine vessel and watercraft designs have included a variety of seating arrangements and designs for the boaters. Specifically, there are many different designs for seats located within a boat, especially for open topped boats commonly used for day trips of limited duration for recreational or sport fishing purposes. Many seats provide the user with a variety of positions in which to sit such as forward-facing, aft-facing, lounging, etc. However, due to the limited space within a boat, these different positions must be operable within small parameters, necessitating thoughtful and ergonomic design.
Typically, modern boats have seats which are rigidly fixed and can only change from providing an upright position to providing a reclining position, but the user's legs are left without support. Other designs provide the ability to recline, but with cumbersome parts and uncomfortable ergonomics. Further, users of boats often desire to stretch out or relax in comfort but because of the limited space provided on the seat of a boat, this is either impossible or uncomfortable.
Although prior designs have sought to improve the structure, operation, and utility of seats on marine vehicles, these designs have failed to adequately maximize space and allow for a variety of seated, lounging, and sunbathing positions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,605 issued to Huse discloses an expandable boat seat that utilizes a slidable base in order to expand and contract the available seating surface. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0158986 to Adams et al. discloses an adjustable sun lounge which converts from a seating configuration to a sunbathing configuration and sun lounge by way of a pivoting, dual-sided backrest. U.S. Pat. No. 7,241,306 to Neese et al. describes a convertible seat assembly which includes two seats in back to back relationship whereby the base of one seat can be extended out to form a lounge seat on one side with a standard seat on the other, sharing a single back rest. While these designs provide some modularity as to seating positions, they require complex, heavier mechanisms that require a large amount of free space and are substantially limited as to the number of possible seating positions. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a better designed, more modular seating system for marine vessels that provides optimum comfort and a variety of usable seating and lounging positions while maintaining simple operation and a unified appearance.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. However, in view of the marine vessel seating systems in existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious to those persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how the identified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner.